🍇 Planet of the Grapes Auto + Lab Test

theChimp Weekly Summary Planet of the Grapes (POTG) entered its first full week in a 3-gallon fabric pot after transplanting. Establishment was uneventful, and the seedling quickly emerged as the most vigorous plant in the tent. Throughout the week, growth remained compact with steady leaf expansion, while the primary focus shifted toward refining the growing environment through several humidifier adjustments. By the end of the week, the environment had stabilized and the plant continued developing without signs of stress. ────────── Environmental Summary Average Temperature: 74.0°F Average Relative Humidity: 69.7% Average VPD: 0.87 kPa ────────── Day 7 Watering: 100 mL POTG was transplanted into its permanent 3-gallon fabric pot. The FoxFarm Ocean Forest soil mixture was already at an optimal moisture level for a young seedling. ────────── Day 8 Watering: 65 mL No additional irrigation was required following transplant. Moisture remained available throughout the medium, allowing the seedling time to establish without unnecessary disturbance. ────────── Day 9 Watering: None A light 65 mL irrigation was applied as the upper portion of the medium began drying. The seedling continued establishing well in the new container with no concerns noted following transplant. ────────── Day 10 Watering: 75 mL The medium had dried sufficiently to justify another light watering, which was applied as a ring around the seedling rather than directly against the stem. The second set of true leaves had begun to emerge. Most of the attention today centered on the humidifier after condensation developed on the tent ceiling. Adjusting the outlet resolved the ceiling condensation but redirected moisture onto the LED fixture, where water accumulated before dripping into one of the pots. The humidifier was repositioned so the mist traveled parallel to the floor. A small number of fungus gnats were also observed for the first time. ────────── Day 11 Watering: 200 mL Height: 2.25 inches The root zone had dried appropriately following the previous irrigation. The second set of true leaves expanded noticeably while maintaining a compact structure and healthy coloration. The humidifier reservoir emptied overnight before being refilled the following morning. Despite the temporary reduction in humidity, no visible changes in growth or appearance were observed and the humidity within the tent never fell below an acceptable range. ────────── Day 12 Watering: None No irrigation was required today. Although the surface of the medium had begun drying, adequate moisture remained beneath the top layer. ────────── Day 13 Watering: 300 mL Height: 2.5 inches Vertical growth remained largely unchanged, but leaf development continued steadily. The first pair of true leaves had reached approximately 2 in in length while the second pair had expanded to roughly half that size. The increase in canopy size was more apparent than any increase in height, indicating the plant had shifted its focus toward producing additional photosynthetic surface area.

theChimp Week at a Glance Height: 2.63” → 3.50” Canopy: 5.0” × 3.0” → 7.0” × 5.8” Key Developments: - Maintained its position as the most vigorous seedling in the tent. - First bottom watering completed with a 30-minute soak. - Irrigation transitioned to pH-adjusted water. - Preventative neem soil treatment applied. ────────── ETHOS Planet of the Grapes continued to distinguish itself as the fastest-growing plant in the garden, producing the largest gains in both height and canopy expansion during the week. Growth remained compact despite the increase in lighting, and the plant responded well to refinements in irrigation and environmental management. By the end of the reporting period, it had developed into a well-established plant with noticeably increasing vegetative momentum. ────────── Environmental Summary Average Day Temperature: 76.6°F Average Night Temperature: 72.1°F Average Relative Humidity: 70.6% Average VPD: 0.87 kPa ────────── Weekly Update Planet of the Grapes continued to set the pace for the garden this week, showing rapid and consistent growth in both height and canopy spread. New leaves expanded quickly. Water management evolved as the root system became established. Irrigation transitioned to pH-adjusted water, and the plant received its first bottom watering by sitting in approximately two inches of water for a 30-minute soak. This ensured the entire root zone was evenly saturated while encouraging continued root expansion throughout the fabric pot. A dilute neem solution was also applied to the soil surface as a preventative treatment after a small number of fungus gnats were observed. By week’s end, the plant displayed healthy color, broad leaf development, and continued vigorous growth. Its combination of compact structure, rapid canopy expansion, and strong overall vigor is hopefully an early sign for the future development of this plant.

theChimp POTG continued its trend as the fastest-growing plant within the tent. The fourth and fifth nodes appeared this week. All watering was completed by hand. Some leaf curling was observed, as well as browning at the tips of some of the oldest leaves. While not ideal, if the issue does not persist, it shouldn’t impact the harvest. Furthermore, I was curious whether using a soil moisture meter would help with watering. While following publicly available soil moisture percentage guidelines, the plant started to develop some signs of overwatering. Within the week, I decided that sticking with my own sense of when the plants needed to be watered was much more effective. This is a useful reminder: chasing numbers is not always optimal, because no two grow setups are the same. Ultimately, you have to listen to your plants. The fungus gnat problem has plateaued, and the neem oil application has been largely successful so far. If we were trying to maximize harvest, I would have topped this plant at this point. However, since this is a part of a genetic expansion project, allowing us to determine our favorite strains, we are more focused on healthy plants and am not intending to force this plant to undergo much, if any, stress. Topping fast-growing autoflowers can be a useful technique, but I wouldn’t advise doing so on a slower-growing variety, as the plant may not fully recover before its internal clock flips it to the flowering stage.

theChimp This Planet of the Grapes is turning into quite the plant! The height has nearly tripled since this time last week, peaking at 18 inches. In terms of intermodal spacing, the plant is averaging one set of flowering sites every 3.5 inches. As we continue our journey of minimal stress, we have struck a perfect balance with the nutrition. The very tips of the leaves are burning, about 2-3mm in total. This means we are riding the line perfectly, maxing out the nutrient uptake with this beauty, and the growth we have seen absolutely supports that hypothesis. Massive growth this week, with beautifully symmetrical foliage. I press down on some of the newer growth, which helps expand out the branches. This helps with light penetration and airflow without adding much of any stress to the plant. Just don’t press down too hard! We transitioned the plant to a VIVOSUN self watering base, and fed 4.5mL of Athena Grow A and Grow B to the reservoir. The roots quickly grew through the bottom of the bag and started to wrap around the rope. To combat this, we rotate the whole plant to move the roots around and break off any micro-attachments. Absolutely wonderful week of growth. The other photoperiods have been transferred to the veg tent and we have adjusted the lighting schedule to 20/4 since it’s just the two autoflowers in the tent, now.

theChimp With the appearance of pistils across a couple dozen bud sites, we have officially entered the flower stage of this plant’s lifecycle. She is looking strong and ready for a successful flower cycle. The major development this week was the beginning of a pronounced early-flower stretch. The plant increased from approximately 21 inches to 30 inches in four days, a gain of 9 inches, or ~43%, and has 9 main-stem nodes, including the top. Architecture is beginning to change noticeably with the stretch. Across the entire 30-inch plant, the current average is 3.6 nodes/ft, equivalent to approximately 3.3 inches of vertical growth per node. We will calculate the exact pre-stretch vs. stretch node density from the next week’s measurements, in case this plant has a two week stretch cycle. Nutrient concentration was increased from 4.5 mL/gal to 6 mL/gal each of Athena Balance Grow A and Grow B, with continued strong growth following the increase. And the previously annoying fungus gnat population has now been completely eliminated.

theChimp It appears the stretch phase for this plant is indeed about two weeks long. We have seen another foot of growth compared to last weeks entry. With basically no growth seen in the past two or three days, it does appear that the stretch phase has ended. Although I will certainly update on height as we keep going. The entire reservoir of the VIVOSUN automatic watering base has been emptying about every two days recently. The plant is thirsty and is taking up all the nutrients we’ve given it. Each time I replaced the reservoir, I’m increasing an additional 3 mL per gallon of Athena Grow A and Grow B. We started at six, then nine, and the watering yesterday was a full 12 mL per gallon. I am still seeing yellowing at the tips of our leaves, about 1 to 2 mm long, which is ideal and indicates that our plant is right on the edge of maximizing its nutrient uptake. Higher nutrients would be recommended if this plant were not potted in live soil. However, the FFOF soil continues to provide sufficient nutrition w/ our augmentation with the Athena nutrients. In an effort to get an idea of the full shape and lifecycle of this plant, we have continued without any stressing techniques on the plant. I have only used some of the lower branches to hold down some of the larger fan leaves to allow for more light to some of the Bud sites, as you can see in the video posted. Overall, we are really excited to be on schedule and to see this explosive plant. I also included a comparison shot of this plant with the Chem diesel X banana daddy auto, which was planted only a couple of days after the plantet of the grapes. It really shows just how fast this plant has grown, and shows why FastBuds is so loved.

theChimp What a week! This plant has been THIRSTY! She has been drinking about a gallon a day, demanding nearly daily refilling of the base reservoir. We have continued the trend of increasing nutes with each watering, now reaching 15 mL/gal of both Athena Blended Base A and Base B. I will continue to increase nutrients as long as the small yellow tips do not expand any further. We have also since moved the plant to a new 4x4 tent for flowering. This was necessary, as the height of this plant (now surpassing 50 inches tall!), which we elected not to top, was reaching too close to the light, causing concerns for light burn and other issues. However, this does come with risks: a new tent is a new environment and there are concerns that the plant may not be able to handle it. The best way to avoid this is to run your new tent empty for a while to get an idea of the environmental conditions, to ensure you’re not taking a plant from let’s say VPD of 1.1 conditions to 2.5 (which may feel excessively dramatic, but is not entirely unheard of). Ensuring the environment is as similar as possible is essentially to reducing unnecessary stress of the plant. This new tent also addresses a minor issue of the smaller 2x4 tent: humidity. These thirsty plants are transpiring a lot, giving off so much humidity that the lower half of the tent was staying too humid for ideal conditions. Mold prevention is essential throughout flower (though, admittedly is more important in mid to late flower). Flower development continues, with pistils growing across the plant. Trichomes are visible across sugar leaves and the plant has already started producing a noticeable weed smell. No particularly clear notes, yet. But this is great to see continued development. In order to increase airflow and light reaching lower nodes, we committed to a moderate defoliation of the plant. This is the only real stress we have placed this plant under, but she has bounced back immediately and is showing no signs of slowing down.